TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government's spokesperson for the COVID-19 mitigation task force, Wiku Adisasmito, said Monday the immense crowds visiting the popular shopping district in Central Jakarta, Tanah Abang, for the past several days had ruined the government’s hard work in controlling the pandemic.

Wiku expressed this in a text message to state media Antara on May 3. “I am truly discomforted by this condition. I understand and respect the tradition of shopping prior to the holidays [Eid celebrations], and this is a good sign for the national economy, but doing it simultaneously is much the same as demolishing out hard work in controlling the pandemic,”

He feared this situation wouldl eventually cause a new COVID-19 cluster to emerge in the area where the shopping district was located.

The task force has also mobilized personnel to the location and increased the number of personnel at Tanah Abang to prevent more people from visiting the location in the future.

Separately, the shopping district’s president director of PD Pasar Jaya, Arief Nasrudin, said he believed that the government’s vaccination program for traders in Tanah Abang, which had completed its second vaccination dose for over 30,000 traders, had contributed to the psychology of the people there that they might let their guard down in terms of implementing proper health protocols.

Read: KAI: Commuter Line Won't Stop at Tanah Abang Market Beginning Today

ANTARA